The pre knob - Am I right in saying this attempts to predict the signal as it enters the limiter & attenuate the predicted peaks?
The post knob - dose this attenuate any missed peaks missed by the pre knob as the signal exits the limiter? Or does it act as a volume correction function for the gain increase created from the pre knob?
Pre is pre-gain, post is post-gain
Paint Huffing Pit Bull Puncher
Can you elaborate on that dude :)
Pre gain feeds a boosted signal to hit the limiter's wall for squashing, add as much as needed for squashing as you want. Post-gain, well.... More of a cut, so you can adjust your output signal to match the rest of the mix, and not clip in that channel as well.
Ok so does that mean the post should act solely as a gain control to correct the output signal from the limiter to suit the rest of the track or should the post generally have an increase to clamp down on any peaks following the signal being squashed? If that makes sense lol
It's cool I've got it, it's just the same as the distortion unit, pre determins the level of signal that you push into the limiter & post is a volume gain. It's just that I've used limiters before where instead of having 1 function for setting the level of signal pushed in to the limiter you also have a secondary function for after the signal hits the limiter so wasn't sure but thanks.
You got it sir....
What's confusing to me the way the ui is set up is it looks like the limiter is upstream of the master volume, shouldnt it be the other way around?
Thanks for the clarification, I also have not really made use of the limiter.
While I don't think there's a hard and fast rule, the Limiter is generally considered a post production tool. I think it's Jason who said he usually turns it off when building a song. The idea being you get your mix and levels sounding as good as possible and then limit.
Wether or not you use the Master Limiter, it seems prudent to have a Master Fader at the end of the entire signal chain.
Yeah, Rej has it right. The Limiter is run before the last master gain adjustment.
A limiter is just another compressor.
Now that Jason has pointed the way towards using a compressor on the master effects I dont really need the limiter. Limiters are very good at adding unwanted distortion the more you crank them up. I have also been using the distortion effect before the compressor to add a tiny bit of saturation. It seems to be working well for me so far. A bit off topic but I thought I would share. ;)
My opinion, for the character of the Master Limiter in the Caustic App, is to be used discreetly as to smooth out occasional clip spikes, nothing more. If you see alot of action on the Master Limiter VU indicator then your entire track signal is too high, or a frequency band is off balance (i,e, too much bass or low-shelf frequencies in the EQ somewhere).
I have noticed that on the limiter in the master section if one brings the pre up a little and the post down a little (from the default positions) it results in a volume boost without too much squishy squash, no distortion effect and adds some presence to the song.
When I was using Ableton, I used the Saturator(distortion) a lot as a compressor. Added a nice grit to the synth while beefing it up as a whole.
The Master Limiter Pre knob is just another gain in the chain..... Same for the Post knob. But if you mix overall is low in level, you can use the Master Limiter as a Gain Boost, if the Master Fader is not enough.
Cutting the Pre knob just enough to not trip the Limiter function itself, and using the Post Gain, can give an extra +9dB or so boost into tye Master Fader if needed.
I have only had to do this once, but it worked perfectly...
Oh, in addition to that, I have used a Distortion IFX to boost a channel strip without using any overdrive effect, by applying the same method.
Caustic is a big modular machine, and its effects and functions can be used for other things than their original intent and design.
Yeah setting a compressor in the first slot with a low ratio (just enough to prevent pumping), and a distortion effect with a small amount of saturation really seems to help give me that polished sound. Kind of blew my mind when I figured it out!
......interesting.... Do you have a track I may peek at where you applied this method?
I have a track in the works I should have posted in the next few days. I just realized I explained the above method out of order. I meant put the distortion effect in the first slot and compressor after it.